I would not only not join, but may oppose, any effort to privatize any part of a public river to the exclusion of other users. The boat basin is a shelter in the storm, so to speak, for water lovers who don't want the wind and terrain others come here for. Why should a corporation profit from excluding others from a public resource frequently used by so many others?

I'm sure I'd find exceptions if I looked, but none come to mind. Ski resort? Not a problem; few hikers or hunters are excluded there, and the terrain is unique. (Besides, they make great snowmobiling when spring drives the skiers to other interests). Disneyland? Without Mickey Mouse, it's just dirt.

But then -- silly me -- I've almost always lived in areas where the land and water are open to all respectful users. I launch and WS where and when the wind and water are conducive (that was curtailed by the RR about 20 years ago, but we still have >70 Columbia River launch sites available, and the lakes everywhere I've lived were pretty much accessible, even overnight, to anybody and any vehicle which can get to the shoreline), I've ridden dirt bikes and snowmobiles and 4-wheelers for decades just about anywhere I wanted, I park free in front of businesses downtown, and ever since I got smart enough to leave the jam-packed, privately owned, uptight eastern half of the U.S., I've camped overnight pretty much when and where I've pleased. I've ridden half-tracks on the Florida panhandle beach dunes, camped near the waterline all over the panhandle, SCUBA dived at Kennecamp, and spearfished all over the Keys, and I had hundreds of thousands of square miles of the southwestern deserts at my beck and call on any toy I wished to crank up that day. (Yet, for you urban greenie do-gooders, I left no lasting tracks and displaced no birdwatchers. It's sand and slickrock, not Grandma's garden,redwood forest, or whooping crane sanctuary. And I've helped the BLM scout, characterize, and set aside for wilderness designation unique lands which needed protection.)

I hate to see unique public resources restricted by "progress" unless it's truly necessary for their preservation, and I don't think the boat basin is threatened with ruin by some SUPers or an occasional wakeboard boat. Heck, I wished I had a stand-up jet ski when they frequented the Hatchery; looked like fun, never harassed me, and took up much less space than kite strings do. I'm for more, not less, freedom, in virtually every aspect of my life, and am dismayed to see so many people actually WANT greater controls and rules in and on their lives. But that's just silly me.

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